LOS ANGELES.–Catching flack from Democrats, the fake news and European Union, 40-year-old Vice President J.D. Vance told the Wall Street Journal that 78-year-old President Donald Trump will use all levers at his disposal, economic and military, to bring an end to the Ukraine War. Trump has been savaged as usual in the fake news saying he’s acquiescing to 72-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin before any real negotiations begin. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was especially critical of Trump’s peace efforts saying the EU and Ukraine must be at the table for the peace talks to have any legitimacy. “There are economic tools of leverage, there there are of course military tools of leverage,” Vance told the WSJ., saying the U.S. could use against Putin, trying silence critics complaining that Trump has taken over the peace process, ignoring Ukraine and the EU.
Expressing consternation over Vance’s comments, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov asked for clarification. When it comes to any real concerns, Trump and Putin know that they’re fully in charge. EU officials say they want a seat at the table but clearly they’ve been leading from behind, letting the U.S. pay the lion’s share of the bill for the proxy war with the Russian Federation. When 82-year-old President Joe Biden decided to join Ukraine’s war with the Kremlin, he sacrificed decades of diplomacy, détente and arms control, wrecking U.S.-Russian relations. So when the EU says they want a seat at the table, they don’t deserve one, only followed a reckless policy by Biden to turn the Russian Federation from cooperative partner to mortal enemy. So, when it comes to the EU, 47-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tries to pit the EU against Trump.
Trump isn’t concerned with the smoking blowing from Kiev and the EU, when it’s Trump’s campaign promise to end the reckless, destructive and costly Ukraine War. Russian officials don’t need to be concerned about the machinations going on in the fake news, detached from what counts in the direct negotiations between Trump and Putin. Zelensky has been kept apprised of where Trump plans to take the Ukraine War from the battlefield to the peace table. How Zelensky and the EU can complain about Trump taking the initiative to end the bloody trench warfare is unthinkable. Zelensky wants Putin to remove all his troops from Ukraine but that’s not going to happen and Trump knows it. If Trump gets any concessions from Putin, Zelensky will be lucky. Putin doesn’t have to give up anything because he’s won the war after three years of death and destruction.
Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg are due to meet with Zelensky at the Munich Security conference. Zelensky has already spoken with Trump who has informed him of his intent to end the war. Trump knows Zelensky’s demands but also knows what it takes with Putin to get the job done. No one in the EU, certainly not Zelensky, can get Putin to negotiate an end to the war other than Trump. Why the EU and Zelensky aren’t wishing Trump God speed in his attempt to forge a lasting peace that saves thousands of lives boils down to pure envy. Zelensky knows how he burnt his bridges with Putin calling him a war criminal and demanding he be arrested by the Hague’s International Criminal Court. Zelensky said publicly he would never meet with a war criminal like Putin, demanding he be removed from power, knowing he could never negotiate for peace.
So, when it comes to negotiating an end to the bloody trench warfare, no one can do it but Trump. Trump reminds the socialist EU that its leaders have no real clout on the world stage compared to Trump as a U.S. president. Putin wants no part of the EU, only agreeing to negotiate with Trump because he trusts him that he’ll do the right thing for Ukraine and Russia. Putin wants to end the conflict because of the economic drain on his country, knowing that restoring normal diplomatic relations means the end of the Russian oil embargo, something that could help boost the Russian economy. So, there are many reasons for Putin to end the conflict but he wouldn’t consider it without Trump. Putin won’t let Zelensky and the EU bully him into a settlement. He wants all the assurances from Trump that Russian Federation and the U.S. restore normal diplomatic relations.
Zelensky and the EU need to put their faith in Trump that he’ll get Ukraine the very best deal possible to end the Ukraine war. Trump’s involvement insures that Russia will not repeat the past aggression that led to the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion. Zelensky needs to take responsibility for opting for war with the Kremlin, over a political settlement. Trump said that Zelensky made a big mistake going to war with the Kremlin, destroying Ukraine and losing some of Ukraine’s best sovereign territory. Now it’s up to Trump to reason with Putin to give Ukraine some of its lost sovereign territory back. But whatever Trump does, Zelensky and the EU owes Trump the respect and gratitude to use his personal relationship with Putin to get a settlement for the disastrous Ukraine War. Zelensky watched three years of death-and-destruction to Ukraine, something Trump promised to stop.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
